A Framework For Building A Foundation Of Ethical Leadership

Some things change, some things stay the same. The National Education Association (NEA) adopted a code of ethics in 1975 (Strike & Soltis 2009, p. viii). While this code still upholds many concerns that educators face today, it is important to make sure that a code of ethics is a breathing document. It must adapt and change with the changing of time. Strike and Soltis (2009) reference the code of ethics quite regularly throughout the entire book. It is first introduced in full at the beginning of the book. Looking over the code, it is important to remember that much has changed since it was first adopted. While all of the code still applies, it is necessary to add to the code to make it acceptable for the twenty-first century.

My understanding of the seven tasks of the ethical leader in creating value for an organization’s stakeholders is that these seven tasks should lead as a guide to leaders. It is essential for leaders to be role models for their employees. A leader needs to not just think about themselves, but to consider how their actions will affect others, including the image of the company. Having a process for employees to address their concerns and feel they are being heard is very important for leading a team. This creates value and a feeling of belonging within a company. Developing key employees and utilizing their talents also gives them value as well as value for others. This raises the bar for them to step up and become role models as well. Always acting in the best interest of the company, even if it is letting someone go.

The Alaska Code of Ethics for teachers contain many points that deal with normative and applied ethics. I drew this conclusion because many of the topics within the code lead to things that explain how things should be done or if situations arise, it explains how they should be handled. These more general ideas provide a framework, which grounds these ethics (Moral Philosophy, 2009). From there the Alaska Code of Ethics spirals down to more specific terms and situations. This is when the code gets into more applied ethics (Moral Philosophy, 2009). The Alaska Code of Ethics seems to speak to the personal values and morals of those for whom they are intended. This can be seen in many of the codes such as, ?The educator may not engage in physical abuse of a student or sexual conduct with a student and shall report to the commission knowledge of such an act by an educator? (Alaska Department of Education & Early Learning, 2000). This is just one example of how Alaska?s code asks educators to abide not only by the professional code of ethics, but to also base their actions and judgments on their personal values and ethics. Teachers, in their responsibility to society, must work in order to not betray that trust (Nelson, Palonsky, & McCarthy, 2010). The knowledge of this responsibility is obvious throughout the Alaska Code of Ethics.

It is without a doubt that the government of the United States has changed in the ethics department. Unfortunately, the United States has had its share of unethical leaders in its past, but nothing compared to the leader it has today. Many people affected by the actions of our leaders and it is very unfortunate that they are not taken into consideration of the challenging work they put to make this country great. The United States president and his group known as Trump Administration, are far from knowing or respecting the word ethics in any terms. Moreover, he has become a bully with power and does not care about the comments he makes, or who he offends. His behavior along with his administration are very unethical. Consequently, there are

To effectively lead one must have an internal core of ethics that employs both self-care and community care to serve as foundations to the duties of ethical vocation. The following framework for ethical leadership should be dynamic in structure but concrete in commitment. Not having this framework could negatively impact my professional practices by allowing skews in data, or reporting, causing a deficit in data driven decisions. This would result in unsuccessful transformational efforts and a lack of credibility for my professional services. It will also be important to cultivate sensitivity to rationalization of professional conduct to ensure unskewed, unbiased, accurate data driven decisions for schools and districts.

In Moral Leadership, Sergiovanni shows how creating a new leadership practice--one with a moral dimension built around purpose, values, and beliefs--can transform a school from just an organization to a community. He believes that this "community" can inspire the kinds of commitment, devotion, and service from all stakeholders that can make our schools great. Sergiovanni explains the importance of justifying emotion and getting in touch with basic values and connections with others. He reveals how true collegiality, based on shared work and common goals, leads to an interdependence occurring naturally among

In a Monster.com featured article titled, “How Leaders Can Be Ethical Role Models” author Cheri Swales takes an intricate look at leadership and being an ethical role model. As she reveals, these things are not mutually exclusive events. In fact, in order to keep businesses, programs, and other opportunities alike equal and honest, ethical role modeling likely needs a firm place in leadership roles everywhere. Yet, Swales knows that acknowledging a need for change accomplishes nothing unless there is also a plan. For this reason, her articles includes a list of ten actions that leaders can take to be ethical role models. For example, one of the first recommendations is to include ethics training to employees. In addition, the article also suggests

Today’s school building leader is responsible to lead with integrity and create a school environment which demonstrates a respect for the rights of all stakeholders based on one’s ability to act from a foundation of ethical practice (ELCC, 2011). Such a foundation might be referred to as “moral intelligence” (Clarkon, 2000,) or “moral craft” (Sergiovanni, 2007). Both personality constructs refer to qualities such as empathy, ability to act beyond one’s self-interests, respect for all persons and the ability to do what is right as fundamental characteristics of an effective school leader (Clarkon; Serviovanni).

Ethical Dilemma in Leadership Ethical dilemmas happen when you choose between what is morally correct behavior and behavior that is in conflict with your values. Ethics and morals are conjoined. They both deal with behavioral actions of right and wrong. Difficult decisions are unpleasant choices were one can resolve to make in everyday life. Making tough choices involves ethical reasoning.

The five principles of ethical leadership are to respect subordinates, have a since of community within the organization, have a sense of service to help others, justice which is done by being fair to others and making sure employees act according to policy, and be honest with employees about tasks and current situations (Northouse, 2013). Ethics serves as a guideline to follow in accordance to what is good and bad as it appears in society. Respect is about being compassionate, having a concern for other people’s feelings, and living by a moral code of conduct. If I had to identify my role as a leader I would say I believe in being respectful to my co-workers and making sure I am honest and fair with the people I work with. A leader has to

Whereas within the educational arena, it imperative to know the needs of the teachers in the building to determine when to apply transformational or transactional leadership. By identifying these need a principal can maximize how teachers feel and perform on their job. Sergiovanni, (1990) offers that the moral leadership that exceeds traditional reputation often gets a better outcome of teacher performance. Therefore training programs for new effective leaders should include guidance on balancing transformation and transactional leadership styles in order to facilitate positive, collaborative learning environments for teaching and learning ( Pepper,

In the study of ethics, there are a wide variety of ideas that are used to influence the way that someone looks at a particular situation. The case study that was examined (titled: Names of Suicide Victims) is discussing the morality of publishing the names of last four people who committed suicide in the college newspaper. At first this was in response to the rising trends that were taking place inside the community. Now this program has evolved to the point that editors of the newspaper are starting to publish more personal information about the individual. This is raising various moral concerns about these practices. To fully understand the ethics of this situation involves: examining if this is an acceptable policy, how this could prevent future suicides, the potential harm and if the newspaper should be punished. Together, these elements will highlight how ethical decisions can influence the outcome of events. ("Names of Suicide Victims")

Furman (2004) cited by Wood and Hilton (2012), p. 196, Community College Review 40(3) states that educational leadership is fundamentally a moral endeavor (p215). They also considered the views of Fullan (2003) and Maxcy (2002) who explain that education administration requires responsible stewardship over resources, personnel and students (p197).

Leading organizations of school administrators offer educators various opportunities to encourage educators to become leaders. No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) has mandated that leaders be better prepared for the task of providing quality education to all. NCLB “… is forcing all educational stakeholders to face the weakness of contemporary school leadership and is making it impossible to ignore the need for higher quality principals” (Hale & Moorman, 2003, p.1). It is believed that all educators can be and are leaders in their own right. A leader is a visionary and has the ability to inspire others to aspire to greatness. Of the numerous opportunities that are offered, those that are most beneficial include but are not limited to

The evolution of education takes risk, courage, thoughtful implementation and support from all stakeholders involved. School leaders are informed by legislation, just as much as legislators need to create laws based on what is in the best interest of students and learning. Improving schools takes knowledge, leadership and the ability to take the ideas of reform and make them impactful and lasting. For change to take hold and last over time there needs to be a sustainability and structures in place to ensure the long-term success of the adjustments. Sustainable leadership requires authentic desire for students to engage in learning, while at the same time the teachers and administration continue to learn as well. “Sustainable leadership fully understands the nature and process of student learning, engages directly and regularly with learning and teaching in the classrooms, and promotes learning among other adults in order to find continuing ways to improve and expand the learning of students” (Hargreaves & Fink, 2005, p. 27). Leadership, learning and engagement requires a thorough understanding of educational philosophy and legal trends and implementation.